Diplomats From MIKTA Member States Visited ORSAM

2 minute reading time

ORSAM hosted a delegation of diplomats from MIKTA member states on Thursday, 18 February 2016. The MIKTA delegation was accompanied by representatives from Foreign Policy Academy of Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ORSAM President Şaban Kardaş, ORSAM researchers Oytun Orhan and Bilgay Duman, ORSAM advisor Pınar Arıkan, and ORSAM visiting researcher Watheq Alsadoon were members of ORSAM delegation. MIKTA was formed by Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia through South Korean initiative on September 25, 2013. The MIKTA is composed of states from world’s different regions sharing same values and aiming at providing common solutions to global problems of a changing world through a cross-regional understanding, dialog, and cooperation. Within this context, current problems of the Middle East, Turkey’s approach to these problems, and potential role that the middle powers that form MIKTA can play in the solution of the regional problems were the main themes of the meeting.
 
The meeting started with a speech by ORSAM President Şaban Kardaş. He mentioned the process that produced the current crisis in the Middle East and the principles that shaped Turkish foreign policy in this process. Kardaş mentioned political underdevelopment as the fundamental problem of the region. He stated that the reasons that produced current crisis had still not been eliminated and lack of an effective conflict resolution mechanism in the region intensified security competition between the regional actors. In this new environment, he continued, Turkey stuck to its pre-Arab uprisings stance which was based on liberal understanding of international relations resting upon cooperation. Accordingly, with the Arab uprisings, Turkey opted for change in line with the demands of the people rather than preserving the status quo. The inapplicability of this approach in Syria created the problem of mismatch between ideals and realities for Turkish foreign policy. The meeting ended with questions from MIKTA delegation such as Iran-Saudi Arabia tension and Turkey’s position, the regional and global effects of lifting up sanctions on Iran, Russia’s position in Syrian and future scenarios, and the possible role that the middle powers could play in the Middle East crisis where regional and global actors involved, ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, and the role of Turkey in the US-led coalition against ISIS, and the answers given by ORSAM delegation members.